Episode 1713 - Stars Heating Up Hell
The thirteenth episode of Season 17 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on January 19, 2018. On that episode, the final five competed in their first black jackets challenge, an argument between two chefs took place, and another's luck ran out. Intro Continuing from the previous episode, Robyn was pinching herself over being in the black jackets, Michelle commented that it was the former and herself as the final two women left, and Benjamin added on being calm and focused helped Robyn in the end. Then, Nick said that despite a rough start, Robyn was becoming a serious competitor, as Benjamin jokingly said that he was rooting for Elise to win a black jacket, making everybody laugh in response. Individual challenge The next day, the final five came downstairs to find Ramsay in front of five banners with lively music playing, causing Robyn to wonder if the former was taking them on a rave. After, Ramsay said that in order to help him decide who would become the Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen in Las Vegas, he had to see how well they could teach a brigade, revealing the Cooking School Challenge. Due to the All-Star theme of that season, Ramsay decided to have the final five work with some All-Star students with Milly working with NFL’s Ricky Williams, Michelle working with WNBA Candice Parker, Benjamin working with NFL “Lights Out” Shawne Merriman, Nick working with Olympic gold medalist gymnast Jordyn Wieber, and Robyn working with 5-Time NBA All-Star Reggie Miller. After, Ramsay explained that the final five had to instruct their partners on how to cook their original signature dishes, causing Michelle to recall how she had hers planned out since the beginning, but was thrown for a loop during that year's Signature Dish Challenge, and believed that she would ace that challenge. Each pair had 45 minutes to cook their signature dishes, but even though Nick found out that Wieber had very little experience in the kitchen, and was nervous, he managed to get her calmed down. Williams was a little intimidated over cooking three dishes in 45 minutes, but Milly was confident that they would win. 20 minutes left, Benjamin felt honoured to cook with Merriman as he was a huge NFL fan, and caught Nick checking out the former, Robyn and Miller tried to psyche out Michelle and Parker, but the two were focused on their sea bass. Eventually, the five pairs got their dishes cooked and plated on time. Before the judging, Ramsay explained that the first pair would be seated on the winner chairs, but could be dethroned should the next dish be better, and the pair left standing on the chairs at the end would win. Nick and Wieber were up first, and presented their peppercorn crusted scallops and celery root purée. Ramsay praised the scallops for tasting delicious, and Nick and Wieber sat in the winner chairs. After, Robyn and Miller’s seared scallops in uni sauce were praised for a freshly tasting pasta, beautifully seared scallops, and Ramsay deemed it better than Nick and Wieber’s dish, allowing Robyn and Miller to take over the winner chairs. Milly and Williams were the third pair up, and their three-way sea bass was praised for complex elements working together, taking over the winner chairs over Robyn and Miller. After, Michelle and Parker’s seared sea bass with pasta and miso beet purée was praised for a perfectly cooked sea bass, the two dethroned Milly and Williams. Benjamin and Merriam were the final pair to have their dish judged, and presented their smoked lamb loin and roasted cauliflower. Despite being praised for having a perfectly cooked lamb, Ramsay did not think that it was better than Michelle and Parker’s dish, and therefore, the latter’s won the challenge. Reward Michelle was rewarded with a helicopter tour of Los Angeles and ate lunch at 71 Above. After, Ramsay told Michelle that she was allowed to bring somebody with her, and she immediately picked Nick. During the reward, Nick admitted that he hated heights, but he and Michelle enjoyed their helicopter tour. During lunch, Nick believed that he and Michelle were more ready for black jackets than in Season 14, the latter called him her right-hand man, and the two toasted to an eventual final two. Punishment The remaining chefs were punished by participating in deep cleaning day, which included cleaning the front entrance carpet, and during the punishment, while Milly was disappointed in losing, he would never forget cooking with All-Star athletes. Then, Milly decided to snack on the leftovers from the challenge, annoying Benjamin and Robyn. Later, Robyn asked Milly if he could help her carry a big pot to the back, but when the latter refused to do that, she got irritated by that, and accused him of acting like he was too good to help clean up, which continued when the three were cleaning up the front entrance carpet. However, Milly told Robyn to leave him alone as he was already aggravated by cleaning up. Before service Later that night, Michelle and Nick came back from their reward, and began prepping for that night’s service. Despite telling Sous Chef Jocky that he was ready, Milly asked Nick for some help prepping the appetizer station, dismaying the latter as it meant Milly was already flustered as Sous Chef Jocky told him to focus. After, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen. Dinner service Johnathon Kite, Matthew Moy, and Janina Gavankar were in attendance in the dining room, and Wyclef Jean was seen in the chef’s table, with Milly noticing that the latter had two women next to him. On their first ticket, Milly believed he was ready to pump out appetizers, but continued to be disorganized as he was missing pans, annoying Nick, with the latter even getting grossed out by Milly’s messy station. Then, Ramsay informed Milly that the pan for his risotto was burning, they were forced to start over, and the latter was reminded that he would produce a mess if he worked in a mess. Due to Milly’s confusion over the changing tickets, he asked both Nick and Robyn to help him out, shocking Michelle as there were three people on appetizers now, but despite all those problems, the first table of appetizers was accepted. However, Ramsay warned Milly that if he could not cook a tartare and a risotto all at once, then he would not be around much longer. 45 minutes into dinner service, appetizers continued to be sent out, Ramsay decided to start on entrées, but despite Benjamin claiming to be focused, he did not respond to a time call from Robyn, with Nick telling the former to get it together, and an aggravated Ramsay reminding Benjamin and Robyn to communicate with each other. Then, Robyn sent up bland couscous, Ramsay told her to show some respect, but she told everybody to chill out as she had it as she got the refire accepted. On their next ticket, Ramsay caught Benjamin once again not responding to a time order, and the latter once again annoyed everybody by saying oui chef. After Benjamin finally took control and communicated with Robyn, the entrée order was accepted, and the final five moved onto Jean’s table. Despite Michelle determined to give Ramsay a good service that night, she was momentarily late on sending out the halibut sauce to Sous Chef Jocky’s annoyance. Then, Ramsay discovered that Nick’s New York Striploin was raw, dismaying the latter as he was having a perfect run until then, but his refire was accepted and they served Jean’s table. On their next table, Robyn was starting to get flustered on garnish, and she accused her teammates of making her more unfocused due to their constant chatting. Then, when Robyn sent up her garnishes, she openly told Ramsay that she was not comfortable sending up burnt Brussel sprouts, but when he saw them, he annoyingly sent the final five to the pantry room, and got more pissed when Robyn accidentally accused him of mishearing her complaint. While Milly knew that it was not a good idea to argue with Ramsay, Nick compared Robyn’s Brussel sprouts to rabbit turds, while the latter refused to give up. Back at the kitchen, Robyn got the refire accepted, and eventually, the final five were able to complete their service. Post-mortem After the final five were lined up, Ramsay praised them for serving the entire dining room with more speed and better quality than both teams had earlier that season, but reminded them that there were some bumps that night in every station. Michelle was named the Best of the Best for having a flawless service, and was tasked with nominating two nominees for elimination. During deliberation, Michelle admitted that she did not see that coming, but knew that it was her decision to make the black jackets stronger. Speaking with Benjamin first, the latter pleaded to Michelle that he was a strong chef that night, but despite Michelle reminding him how Ramsay was pushing him to be more open, Benjamin accused her of not wanting to go up against him, before arrogantly brushing off any weaknesses he had. On Milly’s turn, he believed he had the fewest amount of mistakes that night compared to the others, but acknowledged to Michelle that he needed to learn more techniques in certain areas. Meanwhile, Nick and Robyn discussed Milly’s messy station along with not doing much that night, with Robyn refusing to leave after one day in the black jackets like in Season 10. When Michelle asked Robyn what her weakness was, the latter said that she would go into her own head when frazzled, just as Milly and Nick discussed the burnt Brussel sprout incident that night. For Nick, Michelle told him that she was not going to nominate him, before considering who to put up based on her three other choices. Elimination Michelle announced Robyn as her first nominee for elimination, and Milly as her second. During their pleas, Milly said that he improved a lot in his seasons, but Robyn accused him of being held up by everybody else, leading to an argument about who was weaker. Then, Robyn said that she had more to show to Ramsay, and that she could admit to needing help, before reminding Milly on how he barely helped on the punishment that day, even though the latter accused her of being a liar. After Ramsay defused another potential argument, he eliminated Robyn for her rough night on garnish, and being inconsistent throughout the competition. Before leaving, Ramsay praised Robyn for her massive comeback since her poor start that season, and allowed her to keep her jacket. Before leaving, Robyn hugged everybody goodbye, but warned Milly that she would see him on the streets, and during her exit interview, she received a retrospective montage. After Robyn left, Ramsay believed that he had the right final four in front of him, before warning them that it would only get even harder moving forward. While being dismissed, Michelle knew that she had to focus more in order to move forward and win, Nick believed that Milly’s attitude that night was unprofessional, and the latter said that he would call the police if Robyn attacked him in the streets. At the end of the episode, Robyn received the burning picture sequence. Ramsay's comment: "I've always admired Robyn's no-nonsense attitude, but tonight she had the wrong attitude and served up a lot of nonsense." Category:Episodes Category:All-Stars